“Yes, I’m up. I am. I’m awake. Really.”
I worked really late last night and the kitties patiently kept me company. Tigger in his usual spot, sprawled on my desk, some part of him behind the screen, Zizi napping in my closet. Or so I thought.
When I finished, Tigger struggled to snap out of his snoozey state; he sat up even, but kept falling back asleep.
Meanwhile, Zizi had not been wasting time napping. She had assiduously shredded all the toilet paper in my bathroom. She likes to perch on the toilet seat lid, balancing on her one hind leg and her tail, and use her front paws to shred maniacally.
Looking mega sheepish, the culprit darted away and hid under the sofa, so I didn’t get a photo of her in action. I did laugh as much as I was annoyed with her.
I thought I’d spare you the view of the loo. Let’s just say it looks like a sci fi film set. There is toilet paper in three rooms. I let it be, she can play with it, but the loo is now totally out of bounds to her. Grr.
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Juicing is hard work. Last month, I went to Janakpuri for a work visit and exiting the I just loved these two little boys who were selling sugarcane juice (replacing the shakharkandhi chaat of the winter) from this rotary machine which took all their strength. There were plenty of takers on that hot day — one of the first sweaty ones in Delhi’s so-called spring…
Their ice blocks are covered with jute sacks and the sugarcane stems
are then passed between the two grinding wheels. The result — a flattened stick of fibre, and sweet, sweet, sticky liquid sugar 😉

This was taken in the ‘backside’ of the rather happening Saket PVR shopping complex – boasting a multiscreen movie theatre, lots of bars & restaurants, a coffee shop, 3 music stores … (and every ATM besides ICICI bank’s!)
So, if you need a shave before going to any of these places, here’s the old-school nayi under a tree.
I think this is one guy who’ll stay in business even as the other ‘service professions’ die out in the wake of modernization — the door-to-door kabadi wala (recycler), naak-chhidane wala (ear piercer), and the cycle-mop-man (watch this space — coming soon!) are on their way out. This guy, with his sharp razor and the one-chair + mirror overhead will stick. What do you think?

No one at home likes this stuff, but I am turning into a shakarkandhi chaat fiend. I could live on this stuff. Well, all winter long, when it’s available, anyway…
It’s basically a sweet potato that’s been slow cooked over a coal fire and then peeled, diced, and shaken in a few spicy masalas and lemon juice. So yum! And hey, it’s cheap, easily available, low in calories and has a low glycemic index. Who could ask for a better snack? 😉